Leaders associated with VHP and BJP have been caught on video making inflammatory statements against Muslims and Christians as calls for violence fill these events. Youth from organisation like the VHP were witnessed on camera dancing with swords and racing on bikes with swords through Muslim concentrated neighbourhoods, in what can only seems like an attempt to intimidate minorities. It seems like hate speech is increasingly becoming a norm, and an efficient means of polarising communities and sentiments across the nation. In an analytical piece by Sabrang India, using data collected by Citizens for Justice and Peace’s public hate tracking resource, has uncovered new shifts in patterns related to Hindutva and its political mobilisation in India. It observed that instead of outright communal riots, there is now a concentrated effort to promote communalism through hate speech economic boycott resolutions against Muslims, and mob lynching incidents targeting Dalits and Muslims. The state side by side plays a role by demolishing minority homes and pursuing legal actions against them, often with impunity granted to Hindutva hardliners engaged in communal violence and hate speech.
Gariaband, Chattisgarh
In Gariaband, a leader from the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal has been seen promoting hateful rhetoric and conspiracy theories against Muslim and Christian minorities. During a public address, this leader claimed that the Muslim population in India has increased significantly since independence, alleging that Christians and Muslims are forcefully converting innocent Hindus. “When India got independence, the population of Muslims was 2.5 percent, today it is 15 percent! They have been progressing for decades. Hindus need to awaken. Christians and Muslims have been forcefully proselytising innocent Hindus. Muslim men have been coercing Hindu girls under the idea of Love Jihad to marry and procreate and increase their population.” The video surfaced online on September 6, 2023.
Location: Gariaband, Chattisgarh
Rashtriya Bajrang Dal leader peddles hateful rhetoric and conspiracy theories to target Muslim minorities. pic.twitter.com/RB9KYlRNiI
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) September 6, 2023
Hansi, Hisar, Haryana
Meanwhile, in Hansi, Hisar, Haryana, BJP MLA T Raja Singh stirred communal tensions on Janmaashtami. Through a Facebook video announcement released on Tuesday, Singh declared his arrival in Hansi to mark the occasion of Janmashtami on September 6, 2023, promising a grand celebration that included a motorcycle rally in the local market. T Raja Singh served as the incumbent MLA for the Goshamahal Assembly constituency in Hyderabad within the Telangana Legislative Assembly. He initially began his political journey with the Telugu Desam Party and later switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014. However, on August 23, 2022, when he was suspended by the BJP for violating party norms after making inflammatory remarks which led to protests in Hyderabad. On October 27, 2022, the Hyderabad Police reported that a staggering figure of 101 criminal cases have been filed against him, with 18 of them being related to communal offenses.
Thereby in his address in Hansi earlier this week, he made similar aggressive and incendiary remarks, openly calling for violence. Following the video announcing his arrival, T Raja Singh delivered an extremely hateful speech targeting Muslims with open calls for brutal violence. “This is my country, this is my society. I am ready to give my life. Should anybody look twice in the eye at a Hindu, I will cut his head off! Today we can see the country’s environment. There are power who wish to vanquish our Dharma, those who want to enact Ghazwa e Hind. We have to give them a collective response. I have to die today or tomorrow, but after I die I want to be able to tell Bhagwan (god) that I have protected the cow, and I gave those who do Love Jihad a fitting reply, and have given those who oppose Hindus a befitting response!” With statements like “We must make a Hindu Rashtra,” and “I don’t know what secularism is, I only know what Hinduism is.” He continued, “No power in the world can stop us. Have you ever asked where are these (Jihadis) getting trained? They are sent to the Madarsas at the age of 4-5, where they receive training. Assam CM (Himanta Kumar Biswa) did a very good thing by banning Madarsas! They actually found in a survey that training for stone pelting was given at a madarsa. Kasab, incriminated for the 26/11 Mumbai blasts, was also trained at a madarsa. We have to save the Bhagwa flag, we must save it so we can save our family. We must save it so that our children, including my young four year old, can go around safely in the future wearing a tilak.
Location: Hansi, Hisar, Haryana
Date: September 6, 2023BJP legislator T Raja Singh delivered an extremely hateful speech targeting Muslims with open calls for brutal violence. pic.twitter.com/HBhI4SViE8
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) September 7, 2023
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
In Ahmedabad, Gujarat, members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad paraded through the streets during a Shobha Yatra, brandishing swords with impunity. The video surfaced on Twitter on September 8, 2023.
Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) members flashed swords on the streets during the Shobha Yatra. pic.twitter.com/m5hSW1JUCw
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) September 8, 2023
Kalwa, Thane, Maharashtra
On September 7, 2023, in Kalwa, Thane, Maharashtra, a group of Hindu far-right supporters organised a rally through a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood. They chanted “Jai Sri Ram” slogans while riding motorcycles after dark, an act that has surely stoked fears and unease among residents in the area.
Location: Kalwa, Thane, Maharashtra
Date: Sept 7, 2023Post midnight, Hindu far-right supporters held a rally through a Muslim neighborhood chanting “jai shri ram” slogans. pic.twitter.com/0WaVPPpLV9
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) September 8, 2023
Kothi, Satna, Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh to witnesses’ members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad taking to the streets, this time with swords and axes. They raised slogans of Jai Sri Ram to a jubilant crowd. A video of this incident was uploaded on Twitter on September 8, 2023.
Location: Kothi, Satna, Madhya Pradesh
Vishwa Hindu Parishad members march with swords and axes on the streets. pic.twitter.com/D1abvMl2W0
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) September 8, 2023
A recent report by ANHAD tell us that hate speech incidents predominantly target Muslims, accounting for 73.3% of all such incidents, while Christians are targeted in approximately 26.7% of cases. Interestingly, hate speech incidents against Muslims (61.6%) surpass hate crimes (38.4%). In contrast, hate crimes against the Christian community are 96% more prevalent than hate speech incidents. We can see the effects of hate speech that have proven to be so disastrous, we can even see children repeating them. According to activist John Dayal, these effects will be very difficult to reverse. In an article, he points out how ever year international media outlets, along with organisations like the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom and the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Religious Freedom, regularly release annual reports which India constantly rejects. He further stated that civil society experts believe that it will take more than one generation for some semblance of rationality to return to the governance system after PM Modi is either defeated or retires. To reverse an ideology firmly entrenched by an organisation from educationional and other cultural institutions certainly seems like a long task.
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